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Grange Soroptimists Write for Rights 2024

Grange Soroptimists Write for Rights 2024

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Members wrote in support of the Write for Rights campaign run by Amnesty International, writing letters of solidarity to victims of Human Rights abuses and letters to officials appealing for action. About 60 letters / E mails/ Tweets/ Facebook posts were sent off / posted on social media in December to coincide with Human Rights Day. Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It  is a milestone document that proclaims the inalienable rights which everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. 10 December is an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of human rights in re-building the world we want, the need for global
Creative Christmas Flower Demonstration by Joan Bentley 1st December

Creative Christmas Flower Demonstration by Joan Bentley 1st December

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60 members and guests enjoyed a Creative Christmas Flower Demonstration by Joan Bentley. Joan was entertaining, very creative and we all learnt something. A delicious afternoon tea with homemade cakes rounded off the afternoon when there was also a very popular raffle of the Flower arrangements including a special Orange the World one  to coincide with the 16 Days of Activism. £425 was raised for our Christmas hampers for the Women's Centre.
How did Grange Soroptimists help families at Christmas?

How did Grange Soroptimists help families at Christmas?

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Club members donated hundreds of pounds worth  of food and 6 members packed 48 hampers for families attending BarrowWomen's Centre Several members cobvered the boxes beforehand and the hampers looked lovely. Pupils of Kirkbie Kendal school  generously donated many boxesoffood and toiletries. If you are interested in finding out more about our Club or would likew to join please CONTACT US
Soroptimists say NO to Violence against Women – Orange the World Nov 25th

Soroptimists say NO to Violence against Women – Orange the World Nov 25th

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Orange the World at Cartmel Priory Grange Soroptimists marked International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women by tying ribbons on the gates of Cartmel Priory with each ribbon representing a donation to Women’s Aid, a charity working to prevent Domestic Violence and support victims. Its not too late to get a ribbon tied on. Just go to our Just Giving page. They were joined by Rev Nick Devenish,  pupils from Cartmel Priory School, members of the public and  other Soroptimists from the North West including Regional President Val Moss. There are 16 Days of Activism organised by the United Nations with buildings all over the world lit up in Orange  in solidarity with the campaign. In South Cumbria Cartmel Priory and Barrow Town Hall will be lit for the 16 days and the Hoad in Ulverston only 25th Nov and 10th Dec. We continued
Grange Soroptimists at SIGBI Conference in Edinburgh Nov 1-3

Grange Soroptimists at SIGBI Conference in Edinburgh Nov 1-3

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Seven members travelled to Edinburgh for the 3 day Soroptimist Conference and enjoyed interesting presentations on Soroptimist projects but the highlight was Baroness Floella Benjamin speaking. She talked about her life growing up in Trinidad, racial discrimination in Britain,her amazing career  all interspersed with song and charisma. Her message to girls in particyular was the combination of Consideration, Contentment, Confidence wrapped up in Courage. Baroness Floella Benjamin wows her audience There was time for networking with other members over coffee and wine including Leah Stewart-Rivas  of SI Esperance in Trinidad. We also handed over  some of the knickers  we collected for  Smalls for All  with our knicker tree! Outside the Conference we enjoyed fun and friendship over meals including The Dome and also visited the "Women in Revolt "  exhibition at the Edinburgh Modern Art Gallery, which was very pertinent to Soroptimist highlighting the issues
How did Grange Soroptimists celebrate their Platinum Anniversary October 2024?

How did Grange Soroptimists celebrate their Platinum Anniversary October 2024?

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SIGBI President Ruth Healey lighting the candle for Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland October has seen lots of celebrations of our Platinum Anniversary with P for Party with Personality featuring this month. At the Club meeting we had a "Fifties Food and Fashion"  evening as our club was founded in 1954. On October 19th we had a delicious  Charter lunch at Holker Hall  where we were welcomed by Lady Cavendish and enjoyed the company of other Soroptimists, Alice and Janna  from Prague,   Soroptimists from NW Region, our previous Club members and Ruth Healey SIGBI President. Maria Benjamin a local business woman and farmer  gave us a very inspiring  insight into her work on a farm diversifying making soap and Lake District Tweed, helping her local community and  helping women in Nepal develop their soap business. Sarah French Editor of Cumbria Life was on hand
Get involved with ORANGE THE WORLD

Get involved with ORANGE THE WORLD

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UN Orange the World HELP US ORANGE THE WORLD We plan to tie lots of Orange Ribbons on the gates of Cartmel Priory from Nov 25th until Dec 10th and if you would like us to tie a ribbon on for you please  donate through our Just Giving page for Women's Aid  or CONTACT US . Please give generously. Thank you The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is marked every year around the world on 25th November, and is followed by 16 days of activism; a campaign to end gender-based violence. Orange the World is led by the United Nations to mark awareness of the campaign, which ends on Human Rights Day on 10th December. Buildings and organisations all over the world take part every year, by lighting up orange in an act of solidarity for the campaign and as a
Smalls for All at Drinks Reception Oct 7th

Smalls for All at Drinks Reception Oct 7th

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As part of our 70th year club members  invited local business and professional women to a drinks reception in the library to network, spread the word about our work and highlight our Smalls for All  project with a knicker tree in various schools and library collecting new knickers for women and children in the UK and abroad. The provision of underwear is so important for well being and girls education. The final total of 910 pairs of knickers  despatched to Smalls for All was excellent. Thank you to all who contributed. The reception was very successful with lots of chat and interest in our  varied work and projects and of course the nibbles which included knicker biscuits! IOf you are interested in finding out more about ourwork or joining our club please CONTACT US
How did Grange Soroptimists help hit the headlines about Plastics?

How did Grange Soroptimists help hit the headlines about Plastics?

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From 11-18 March 2024 Grange Soroptimists took part in the Big Plastic Count organised by Greenpeace counting all our single use plastic items thrown away during the week.  On average each person threw away 23 items (food & drink 81%, cleaning & toiletries 8%, everything else 11%), and many of them unsuitable for kerb side recycling. Our results were very similar to the national results and highlighted that although we need to REUSE  and RECYCLE the most important thing is to REDUCE plastic use. Information from the National Survey  showed 1 in 300 of the population had taken part and estimated that UK households throw away 1.7 billion pieces of plastic a week. The media interest  in the results was considerable and got the problem noticed.  Its known that  the UK is second only to the US in the amount of plastic waste produced per
Celebrating the lives of women in Barrow Sat 21st September

Celebrating the lives of women in Barrow Sat 21st September

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Members took part in the Barrow Dreams Reclaiming the Past event in Barrow with a parade and performances to celebrate the remarkable women in our  lives and communities, including of course the Soroptimists! One of Barrow's most famous women was Barrow Soroptimist Peggy Braithwaite (1919 - 1996) who was the first  female  lighthouse keeper and was the Principal keeper at South Walney light until it was automated in 1974. Other women  celebrated included the munitions workers in both WW, Gillian Thompson (1940-2019) who  was the first female nuclear physicist to work at the Shipyard in Barrow and  England footballer and lioness Georgia Stanway! There were bands and a very happy atmosphere in the glorious sunshine velebrating  the lives of local womenwith many groups participating!